January, 2001

Standardizing, Testing

Social networking sites like Facebook may suck up tons of time that could be more productively spent in other pursuits. But they at least have the potential virtue of revealing some of the taken-for-granted stupidities of modern life. Take the idea that IQ tests are useful, for example:

Anyone who has the slightest amount of free will should be able to see through the inanity of such exercises after being prompted like this a few times. Then again, I just took a Facebook "quiz" that purported to tell me what "badass animal" I'm most like. But I suppose the existence of such delightfully, deliberately lame surveys could itself serve as a corrective for the statistically proper sort.